Last year, he was cleared internally on charges that he tipped off the owner of Beer Goggles Bar & Grill and Bottomley's Tavern, both on Staten Island, about an undercover gambling probe.

"He lost his pension and this guy's life was destroyed because of a bunch of dishonest cops," said Jeffrey Lichtman, a lawyer for Lewis. "He loved being a cop and now he's living hand-to-mouth."

In his Manhattan Supreme Court suit, Lewis says he was wrongly tried based on flimsy statements from "unreliable witnesses" and an investigation led by cops who "improperly and unjustly targeted" him.

Lewis was cleared in March by a federal jury that believed his claim that he took $140,000 from a bank to hide it from his ex-wife, and not the IRS. Lewis, who worked in Staten Island's 120th Precinct, was earlier found not guilty of tipping off the bar owner about the gambling investigation.

"Time and time again, these charges were supported by fabricated evidence and false testimony," Lichtman said.